I recently was asked to help a charity develop a plan to raise money to buy a 12-passenger van. They had secured a matching grant from a local foundation and had desperate need for the van to help increase the number of people they could serve.
By the last day of their campaign they had exceeded their goal by almost $4,000! Looking back over the fundraising strategy I see that a couple important ingredients were in play.
- A human-sized problem for the donor to solve was clearly articulated. The donor via their giving could solve the problem.
- We communicated to donors multiple times via multiple platforms including email, hard copy letter and website. The leadership team was anxious about the number of times we asked for a donation. But every time we sent out an email more money would come in. It’s fundraising magic. The more times you ask (typically) the more money you raise.
- We asked for more money than we thought we could receive. The campaign goal was lofty and the leadership team knew this, but they also knew they had to stretch their donors to give more and think bigger than their pervious giving.
You can learn from and apply these fundraising fundamentals to your next fundraising effort. Especially as you head into the last few weeks of the year. If you need to raise more money, one of the most effective things you can do is to simply Ask more often!